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Moreton Bay Today - Federal Member for Petrie Emma Comer talks new Redcliffe Mental Health Medicare Clinic, U-16 Social Media Ban & Payday Super
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The new Redcliffe Medicare Mental Health Centre is now open, offering free, walk-in support for locals doing it tough. Federal Member for Petrie Emma Comer joins us to explain how it will improve access and care for our community.
We also unpack the government’s new under-16 social media rule, what “reasonable steps” mean for platforms like TikTok and Instagram, and whether it could pave the way for digital ID concerns.
Plus, Emma breaks down the upcoming Payday Super change, ensuring workers get their super every payday and what it means for small businesses.
New Mental Health Medicare Clinic Redcliffe
SPEAKER_03The Redcliffe Medicare Mental Health Center is now open, offering free walk-in mental health support for people who need it most. It's a big step for the community, especially for those struggling to get timely care. Now, how will this new center make mental health services more accessible for locals and what plans are in place to ensure there's enough staff and funding to meet demand?
SPEAKER_02Well, it's a great question. So the center is completely free. It's walk-in. You can just go in there, and when you go in there, you'll notice there's no lobby. It's you're walking straight into like a living room environment to sort of lower those um uh boundaries. Yeah, the anxiety or any of those um hurdles that might be presenting people going in there, you know, the clinical setting. Um so the it's fully staffed, it's operational. We've got uh peer support workers, we've got you know uh psychologists, uh, we've got a range of people who are dedicated to working. And even as they're doing their bump in, literally putting in their computers, they've had people come in and they've been able to get the support they need, even when they're still setting up the basic IT equipment.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Have you had like a lot of people so far?
SPEAKER_02Um so I haven't seen the exact stats. I've actually been away um with the parliamentary exchange program up in Tully with the jungle warfighters, um, which was a fantastic experience. But I'll be checking in with them today. Um so they've already had people in. I spoke to some of the staff at the Culture uh Medicare Mental Health Centre um on that day, and they are constantly got people coming in and they're seeing a real merit in the community. So I'll be checking in with them today, and I'm I'm sure it's going to be a positive uh response.
SPEAKER_03Excellent. And where is that located for?
SPEAKER_02So it is just on Anzac Avenue, it's right between the Peninsula Fair and the hospital. And there's a big, beautiful artwork on the front of it, um, which a lady was commissioned to do that, and it's a it's a beautiful piece of indigenous artwork that's really um emblematic of our community. It's fantastic.
SPEAKER_03Now, starting
U-16 Social Media Ban
SPEAKER_03December 10, this year, the government is bringing in the rule that means that kids under 16 in Australia won't be allowed to have accounts on uh major social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, uh, Snapchat, X, and others, unless the platforms uh take what they call reasonable steps to prevent under 16s from signing up or keeping an account. The idea is to give younger teens a break from the pressure of social platforms and protect their mental health and well-being. But the details probably for some a little bit fuzzy at the moment. It's up to the platforms to decide how they check ages, deactivate accounts, and enforce the rule. Now, there's a bit of concern about digital ID coming into play as a result of this. A few listeners have called up. Do you mind if I play that?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, go for it. Yeah, good day, Tim from Deception Bay. I just wanted to ask about the ID checks for the social media they want to bring in. That's got me worried because we've seen what's going on in England. A lot of people, millions of people out there protesting about government tracking and all that digital control stuff they're bringing in. And I don't think we need it here because it starts small and then suddenly everyone's being watched and scored. You know, this is a Trojan horse. Is that what is that what it is? Because it feels like a slippery slope, mate. Anyway, thanks a lot. Thanks.
SPEAKER_01It's Sue here from Newport. Hi, Travis. Yeah, I'm just concerned, very concerned about the digital ID that seems to be coming in. Again, this is something that uh hasn't been put to a vote. Australians haven't been asked about this. This is what the government is bringing in. Um I do question what it all represents. They claim it to be about uh protection for children under 16, but obviously it means everyone will need to prove their identification that they are over 16. So to me that is it is not being very transparent. It's presenting it as something that it's not. Uh obviously you're gonna have a digital ID, it's gonna become a social credit score, the carbon points, is this gonna become China? I mean, is that what's going to happen?
SPEAKER_03So as you can hear some concerns there before we jump into how it's gonna work, can you assure those listeners that's not what it'll turn into? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Well, I'm grateful for them calling in and sharing their concerns as valid concerns. Um so no Australian will be forced to provide government-issued ID or use an Australian government accredited digital ID service to prove their age. Um, the platforms may offer it as an option, but most also offer reasonable alternatives. So no one who is 16 or older is prevented from having a social media account because they choose not to provide a government ID. Uh, this includes situations where age checks, methods, return result the user does not accept. So there is no requirement to provide your ID to access social media. Uh, and if you've had your social media for 16 years or more, you're not gonna have to prove it. Um, and you know, the social media, there, the onus is on them to make sure that people under 16 are not on the platforms. Uh, and social media is kind of aware if you're following, you know, you know, Jimmy Barnes and caravanning and all these things, they they know, they know you're a demographic that does is not in target for this. So like the social media platforms have a lot of this data already, just from how you engage with the platform. So there's no requirement of government ID to access your social media.
SPEAKER_03It's a bit like uh the radio station here. We know what our demographic is for our listeners based on the music that we play.
SPEAKER_02And I don't want to laugh it off. Like it is a genuine concern. Um, privacy, you know, we've got all these hacks and stuff going on. Um, and I just want to make it very clear to the listeners that um you will not have to provide your government ID to access your social media.
SPEAKER_03Right. Thank you for answering that. Um, yeah, as you said, it's a real concern for a lot of people. So and there's mass protests happening uh in England at the moment or have been happening. Um but let's jump into how it's gonna work. Can you walk us through how the government expects it to work in practice? For example, how will you prevent kids using uh other friends' accounts and what happens to existing accounts for kids under 16 when the rule kicks in, especially in the cases where they might have been using it to make money?
SPEAKER_02Well, the government has released guidelines for the social media platforms. It doesn't tell them exactly how to do it, but it does threaten them with hefty fines. We're talking millions of dollars if they can't prove that they've taken reasonable steps to stop accounts for people under the age of 16. So the onus is completely on the platforms. So any of these fines, it will be to the platforms, never to a parent. I want to make that very clear. Uh, we've had parents reaching out to us. This is this is because there's demand. We've got kids accessing quite vitriolic content out there across so many platforms, and it's it's proven to have psychological impacts to a rate that if this was a product on the shelf, we would be addressing it. So there's demand out there, and we're we're here to to help our young people um, you know, live their childhoods and actually just engage with each other and and get on the internet.
SPEAKER_03I think I think Emma, most parents would agree that they want to protect their kids from harmful content, including bullying as well, which is obviously a huge factor.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, bullying, eating disorders, violence, these are all being um circulated to a quite a frightening extent, and I think it's on us, uh on us as the adults in the room to to make this tough cool.
SPEAKER_03Yep. Well, I'm glad you could clarify that for our listeners.
SPEAKER_02And um, and and I just want to add on to that. So, you know, some people might use older siblings accounts, things like this. Like if there's a will, there's a way. Young people will find a way. But we have laws against theft, we have laws against uh murder, we have laws against lots of things, people will still do them. Does not mean that we don't have a law to say that's not on and that's not acceptable in our modern age.
Payday Superannuation
SPEAKER_03But we'll move on to my next question. There's been a big change coming down the line, though, called payday super for our final topic. And it means your super will get paid every time your wages go in, not you know, a month up to three months afterwards. The idea is to stop workers from missing out on the super they've earned and make uh sure every dollar lands where it should be. So, Emma, can you talk us through the benefits of this for everyday Aussies and when we can expect it to kick in?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so we're introducing this, it will kick in on the 1st of July next year. Um, and so employees will benefit from more frequent and earlier super contributions that will grow and compound their working life. So, as you said to me just before we came on air, is you know, not having the super contributions paid on time is interest lost. That's then impacting your ability to retire with dignity and comfort. Um, so this is just a way of keeping on track of it. Uh, not a lot of people are paying attention uh to when their super's getting paid, and so we're having blowouts of thousands of dollars, people being underpaid. Um, so yeah, the average 25-year-old worker's retirement balance is the equivalent to receiving an extra six thousand dollars in today's money. So this is gonna make quite an impact. Uh, and so we're we're just making things fairer, essentially.
SPEAKER_03We talked about the fact if you do want to monitor that, which you should, is to use your super app. So download your super company um for this organization's app, and that way they will give you notifications once you get super into your account, which is a great way. Was there any other topics that you want to discuss while you're here or anything that you would like to share with your constituents, Emma?
SPEAKER_02Um, so in the mental health space, we have another great announcement coming up very soon. I don't want to give too much away, but uh we're layering the healthcare system so everyone can get their needs met. Um so when I talk to you next, I'll have an exciting announcement uh in the mental health space and I'm very chuffed for this. We're going to be nation leading here in the Petri electorate. So it's it's very great. That is exciting. Yeah. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_03Federal member for Petri and Macoma, always appreciate your time. Thank you very much.